Choreography
by Jetshinsei
Summary: Andre enlists the help of an unlikely person to help him with a project. What's the worst that could happen? Trandre.
1. Chapter 1

**Choreography**

**Summary: **Andre enlists the help of an unlikely person to help him with a project. What's the worst that could happen? Trandre.**  
**

**AN: Trandre, because there are a severe lack of stories with this pairing and unlikely pairings are my favorite stories to write. The title isn't the best, I know, but I wrote most of this story with just 'Trande' as the working title.  
**

**Chapter 1**

Singing Tori's signature song (that was originally supposed to be hers) under her breath, Trina made her way to her bedroom after a long shower. "You don't have to be afraid to put your dreams in action, something, something, something, be the main attraction..." Frowning, she realized that she'd already forgotten a lot of the lyrics. Which should have been impossible considering how many times Tori had sang it since she'd gotten into Hollywood Arts.

She wrapped her shoulder length hair up in a towel and plopped down on her bed, still humming the tune as she scrolled through her texts. It didn't take very long since her only texts were from Tori, her mom, her science partner, and her dance teacher, and she briefly wondered why she even had a phone if no one was even going to try to communicate with her. She used it more as an expensive mp3 player than anything, and since the PearPhone XT had cost her a good four hundred dollars, it was massively overpriced. The stupid thing could only hold seventy gigabytes of data, and that was _with_ the largest memory card she could afford. The doorbell caught her attention and she sighed.

"Mom! Get the door!" Silence met her scream, so she yelled out for the only other person in the house. "Tori! Door!" She waited a few seconds to listen for some kind of movement, and realizing that no one was home, she pushed herself to her feet and stomped down the stairs (Which didn't sound all that impressive since she was in a pair of pink bunny slippers).

She glanced through the peephole-you can never be too safe even if your dad's a cop-and frowned, instantly recognizing the boy on the other side of the door. Sighing loudly, she unlocked the door and flung it open.

"Tori's not here," she deadpanned, glaring up at him before he could say anything. She started to close the door in his face, but Andre quickly pushed his hand out and stopped her.

"I'm not here to see Tori."

Trina raised her eyebrows. "Then who do you want? I'm the only one home right now."

Andre winced slightly, almost as if what he was about to say next physically pained him. "I'm here for you."

"You want to see _me_? Why?"

"Can I come in?" he asked, looking around like he didn't want to be seen speaking with her.

She glanced down at herself and shrugged. Sure, she was in nothing more than a bathrobe and slippers, but Andre was one of the few guys she knew she could trust. Beck and Robbie were also fairly trustworthy, but Sinjin...she felt a brief shudder go through her as she thought of him. Stepping back, she opened the door just wide enough for him to slip inside.

"So?" she asked, crossing her arms impatiently.

Andre chewed the inside of his lip and grimaced. "I need your help."

Suddenly understanding what this was about, she deepened her frown and crossed her arms a little tighter. "Of course. Well, if you want information on Tori, you've come to the wrong pers-"

"It's not about Tori, alright? Would you just listen?" he seethed.

She was a little taken aback by the forcefulness of his tone, and she had to admit that she was a lot more interested in what he had to say if it didn't involve Tori for once. Still, she rolled her eyes and flicked her hand at him in a gesture for him to continue.

Nodding to himself, he rubbed his hands together and paced the area in front of the door with an uneasy frown on his face. "I'm working on a song, and like I said, I need your help."

"You need _my_ help?With a _song_?" she asked, not even bothering to hide the surprise in her voice. It wasn't that she didn't think she was talented, but there was an ugly rumor going around that she couldn't sing. For some reason, everyone believed it.

"Just with the choreography," Andre explained, quickly moving to squash any misunderstandings. "You can't sing worth a damn, but you've got moves."

She didn't know whether to be insulted or flattered, so she decided to settle on curious. "Why should I help?"

"Why? Well, I mean, it's experience. And we're friends. Right?"

Her lips twitched upwards at being referred to as his friend, but she quickly squashed it down into a frown. She didn't need fake friends who only came around when they needed something from her, even if it did sound like a pretty interesting project. "Bye."

Andre sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. She'd find out eventually anyway, so it was better if he was upfront with her from the beginning. "Okay, okay, it's a music video we're putting together to show Kojeezy."

Trina's mouth dropped open, and for the first time, her expression changed from something other than boredom. "Are you serious?!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm and jumping up and down.

Unfortunately the simple action caused the top of her robe to come undone a little bit, and against his will, Andre's eyes glanced down at her chest before quickly shooting back up to her face. It was instinct; after all, most people tended to glance at something when it moved, and most guys tended to glance at the cleavage of a woman no matter how they felt about them. It didn't mean he found her attractive, but she _did_ have D cups.

She finally calmed down after another minute of screaming and regarded him with a serious frown. "If I'm doing this, I get to be the star."

He almost laughed at her demand, but instead he shook his head and smirked. "Uh, _I'm_ the star. It's _my_ song."

"Fine, then I'm the _co_-star," she shrugged, waving off his comment.

Andre sighed, already regretting his decision. Sure, he thought Trina was one of the best dancers he'd ever seen, but was it really worth all the stress of dealing with Trina? It was no secret to anyone that she could be a huge diva when she wanted to be, and chances were, he'd be spending more time calming her down than actually working on the video. "Trina, it's a love song. You'd be playing the girl I'm in love with."

His statement gave her pause. Her being in love with him? Sure, he was talented and a little cute, but she couldn't even say she liked him let alone loved him. Not that it mattered. She was just doing this to get in front of Kojeezy, anyway. "So?"

He sighed again. "We have to pretend that we're in love. _Us_. I just don't think you could ever pull it off."

"Then no deal." She crossed her arms over her chest for emphasis, leveling him with a stern gaze.

Realizing that he didn't have much of a choice, he rushed to think of a plan. His eyes lit up a second later as he thought of a foolproof way to both get her help _and_ weasel out of their arrangement if he had to. "How about this. If you can convince me before the shooting that you can pretend to be in love with me on camera, I'll let you do it."

Her face remaining unchanged, Trina tightened her arms. "How do I know you won't go back on your word even if I do a good job?"

"The gang will be our witnesses. You can trust Tori, Cat, Beck, and Robbie to be impartial, can't you?"

Trina tilted her head in thought. It certainly seemed fair, and if she needed to, she could easily bribe at least Cat and Robbie to vote yes. A wide smile breaking out on her face, she stuck her hand out for him to take. "Okay, deal." He barely had a chance to touch her hand before she was pacing around the room excitedly. "I can't wait! Do you think he'll listen to my demo tape? I hear he's the one who discovered Ginger Fox, so even if I _can't_ sing," she snapped, shooting him a glare, "I can still become a superstar."

Andre stared at her, not quite sure what to say. He knew she could be a bit delusional and out there, but this was a little too ridiculous even for her. "Well, our first practice is after school tomorrow. If you could start putting moves together today, that'd be cool." He reached into his pocket and held out a flash drive. "I put both the full song and the instrumental on here. If you have any questions, give me a call. You got my number, right?"

Trina snatched the drive from his hand and jogged back up the stairs, leaving him standing dumbfounded in the middle of the living room without another word. Not only was it an incredibly rude exit, but she'd actually cut his thumb with her nails when she grabbed the drive. As much as he wanted to believe that she was just excited to start work on the video, he somehow felt like he'd just made a huge mistake.

* * *

"Andrew!" A loud voice called from behind him, surprising him and causing him to drop his books on the ground. Andre glanced over his shoulder to see Trina stomping towards him in ridiculously tall, bright red six-inch heels. He was so dumbfounded and frankly impressed by the ridiculousness of her shoes that he couldn't even think properly let alone speak.

"Andrew!" she yelled again, this time in his face.

He backed away from her, frowning. "What? and it's_ Andre._"

Ignoring him, she took a step closer. "This song. There's _no way_ Kojeezy won't love it. I _have_ to be the lead."

He felt his lips curl upwards at the subtle compliment. "Then you'd better to a damn good job of convincing everyone you can be in love with me, cause if you can't sell it to the camera, you're out."

Trina's face soured. "Don't worry, I've got the choreography all worked out. We'll need three more back up dancers to do what I have in mind, but I'm still going to be the star."

"You mean, _we'll_ be the stars."

She sighed rolled her eyes. "Right, _we._" Holly wood arts' unique bell rang, and Trina turned on her heel to walk away. "Four o'clock in the third dance studio. Wear your sweats, we've got work to do."

Andre watched her go, once again put off by her personality. She'd switched from crazy to business in .2 seconds, and he could already tell that she was going to make him wonky in the head with her wishy washyness.

"What's up with her?" Tori asked, staring after her sister as she approached from his right. "What's she talking about about?"

Groaning, he realized that he hadn't actually told anyone besides Beck about his plan to recruit Trina. He was expecting to be ridiculed for choosing her of all people, but he wasn't planning on revealing it to anyone just yet. Still, there was no time like that present. "About that. Tori, we need to talk."

* * *

Sighing tiredly, Andre slipped into the dance studio. Thanks to Tori, all day people had been coming up to him and asking if he was crazy for choosing Trina to be his choreographer, and he was sick of it. As if he didn't already know that he was taking a huge risk by recruiting a girl who didn't have an official choreography credit to her name and was well known for being flamboyantly awful. Still, he had a small amount of faith in her, and the next hour would tell him if his gamble might pay off.

The first thing he saw was Trina bent over at the waist, stretching her hamstrings as she sat on the floor. He raised an appreciative eyebrow at how flexible she was, and suddenly he felt slightly better about picking her. If nothing else, she was limber.

As he took in her dance attire, he found that he liked her better like this-in grey sweat pants, a pink tank top, and black sneakers. She wore much less make up, and her hair was tied up in a sloppy ponytail. She looked almost...normal.

He cleared his throat so that she wouldn't be too freaked out when he spoke and stepped further into the room. "Alright, I'm here. What you got for me?"

Hopping to her feet, she motioned for him to stand in the middle of the floor. "I was thinking that for the slower parts of the song it'd just feature you and me acting out the main storyline of the video. For the chorus, we'd use back up dancers to break up the story and keep people from getting bored. Who's directing?"

"Beck is, but we're still in the early planning phase. Sinjin's working the lights and audio, and I've got Robbie filming."

Trina's nose crinkled at the mention of Sinjin, but she shrugged as if resigning herself to her fate. He was undoubtedly the best audio visual kid in the school, so of course they would ask him to help out.

"We'll have to talk this over with them later, then. Okay, from the top." She pushed a button on the stereo and quickly moved to stand next to him. As soon as the first beat started, she began to dance.

She wound herself around him skillfully, and he watched her in the mirror in front of them with his jaw agape. He knew she had moves, but _fuck_. Every pop, every slide, and every turn was executed flawlessly. It was a perfect mix of hip hop, Latin dancing, and even a little ballet that he'd never seen before. The things she usually did when performing looked like awkward swaying compared to what she was doing now.

During the choruses she'd simply pause and bob her head to the beat, every now and then trying out a move she thought might work. He correctly assumed that she hadn't quite worked those parts out yet, which was to be expected. It'd only been a day since he'd asked for her help, and he was amazed that she even had as much as she currently did.

The song ended with her face barely six inches away from his, and he could feel her breath on his face as she struggled to control it.

"So?" she asked after a few seconds, still panting slightly.

"That was...whoa. That was amazing." He took a step back and crossed his arms. "But what do _I_ do?"

"Nothing. You just stand there and look pretty," she smiled, patting him lightly on the cheek.

The boy rolled his eyes, and all the illusions he'd had of her skill and professionalism instantly shattered. "The point was for us to dance _together._ Right now it's like you're some kinda creepy stalker trying to get my attention."

She let out an exaggerated sigh and let her head fall back so that she was looking at the ceiling. "Fine, I'll work on it. It's only been a day."

"Yeah, see that you do." They scowled at each other for another few seconds, neither wanting to back down first. Finally, Andre cracked a smirk. "It really was good, though. I don't know how you came up with those moves so fast."

Flattered, she smiled up at him. "Thanks, it was really easy with your song. I just saw how it was supposed to look, you know? I'm working on the choreography for the back up dancers, too, but we need to sit down with Beck and Sinjin to get a clear idea of what we're doing before I can really lock anything down." She glanced up to gauge his reaction only to notice that his eyebrows were furrowed. "What?" She asked, frowning at the way he was staring at her.

The teen shook his head, fake dreads swinging around his face. "It's just weird seeing you so...competent. You actually sound like you know what you're doing."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Andre laughed and shook his head again. "Kind of. Come on, let's get out of here."

Smiling slightly, Trina shouldered her bag and followed him out of the dance studio, turning off the lights as she left.

* * *

A full week passed. True to her word, Trina had worked out choreography for the both of them, and he was just starting to learn the steps. They'd sat down with Beck, Robbie, Sinjin, and Tori (Who had, like usual, decided that she wanted to be in on it too) and planned out the music

Beck, Robbie, and Sinjin had all been excited about the ideas Trina brought to the table and had planned the majority of the video around her choreography. What surprised Andre the most was that she wasn't really being a diva about the whole thing. She still got loud and annoying whenever he messed up a move, but at least she had a reason to be obnoxious. Luckily she'd had to yell less and less as the week wore on, and today, she hadn't yelled at all.

The only thing that was still a little awkward was that a few of the moves she'd put together required some grinding, and despite his best efforts, he couldn't quite keep his erection under control. He knew she'd felt it at least twice, but if she wasn't going to say anything about it, then neither was he.

The music ended with them nearly flush against each other, faces six inches apart just like she'd choreographed. A few times they'd nearly bumped heads (or worse, kissed), so he was relieved that it'd gone off without a hitch. Simultaneously they fell to the floor in a heap. "That...that was the best one yet," Trina panted, a light sheen of sweat on her forehead.

Andre nodded, also trying to catch his breath. "Yeah, a couple more days of practice and I'll be able to do it in my sleep."

They were quiet for a few minutes, just allowing themselves to relax in the quiet of the dance studio. They'd been dancing for the better part of two hours, so the long break was well deserved.

Trina unscrewed the cap on her water bottle and took a long swig. "Andre?" she asked, sounding more unsure than he'd ever heard her.

He turned his head to look at her, snatching the bottle from her hand and taking a drink for himself. "Yeah?"

"Okay, I know I'm amazing and all, but why did you ask me to choreograph your video? We're not exactly friends."

He was silent for a minute, almost as if gathering his thoughts. He stared at her blankly, and just as she was starting to get nervous, he finally opened his mouth to answer. "It was that trip to Yerba. Trina, you put together and taught two dance sequences in a couple of days. The second time, you taught a bunch of prisoners who'd probably never danced before in their lives some of _Michael Jackson's_ moves. How could I _not_ ask you? You throw yourself into everything you do, even if it's usually too much." When she smiled, he returned it and moved to speak again. "And I don't know about you, but I consider you my friend. Even if you're a crazy diva most times."

Trina's smile widened, and not wanting him to get a good look at her face and make fun of her, she shoved his shoulder so that he nearly fell over. What she didn't expect was for him to shove her back with just enough strength so that she almost lost her balance, too. She attempted to push him again, but he caught her wrist in his much larger hand to stop her. She'd forgotten how strong he was, which should've been impossible considering how easily he lifted her up when they danced.

Annoyed, she tried to use her other hand to push him-only to end up losing her balance and knocking them both over. They both broke down into laughter a second later, neither of them noticing Tori walk into the room.

"You guys done yet?" she asked, texting on her phone. Her eyes widened slightly when she finally looked up at them. "What are you doing?"

Still laughing, Trina pushed herself back up into a sitting position. "Andre was being a dork, so I beat him up."

"Is that what happened? Your fists must be made of marshmallows, since I didn't feel a thing," he retorted, also sitting up.

Tori slid her gaze between Trina and Andre, disbelief still stretched across her face. Neither of them seemed to have noticed the position they'd been found in, so she decided to just let it go for the time being. She could always grill them later when she wasn't exhausted. "Well, I need to get home. Can you give me a ride now?"

Trina groaned. "_Now?_ But I still have to get my stuff from my locker, turn off all the lights and equipment in the studio..."

"I can give you a ride home. It's not that far outta my way," Andre offered.

This time, Tori felt her jaw drop open. "Are you sure, Andre? Do you really want Trina-my sister-riding in your car with you?"

The boy shrugged. "Yeah, it's no big deal. Long as Trina's okay with it, anyway."

Trina smiled and nodded. "Thanks, that'd be great!"

By now, the younger Vega was completely flabbergasted. Trina? Thanking someone? "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

"Oh, shut up. I'm not _completely_ ungrateful." She stood to her feet and headed over to the stereo where her keys were before tossing them to Tori. "Now that you have your license, you can drive yourself home."

Tori caught them, though just barely. Her eyes were still staring at them like they were complete strangers. "Yeah, see you." She shot them one more confused glance and exited the studio, shaking her head the entire way.

After spending another half hour cleaning up and gathering their things, Trina and Andre headed to his car. She was a little nervous since it was her first time in it and she didn't know what to expect, but she was both pleased and unsurprised to see that he liked to keep it clean. Unlike her own, which probably had enough trash to fill two garbage bags.

"I'm hungry," Trina groaned after they'd been driving for a few minutes.

"You wanna stop and get something?" he asked, glancing over at her.

"I want a smoothie! Take me to get a smoothie!"

Andre rolled his eyes at the bratty tone in her voice but switched lanes anyway. "Yes, princess."

Trina hummed. "I like that."

"Like what?"

"Princess. It suits me, don't you think?"

Andre laughed slightly at her question. "I am _not_ calling you Princess."

"Nobody asked you to," she frowned, the brattiness seeping into her voice again.

He blinked at the sudden change in her attitude and glanced in her direction. "Then why–you know what, never mind."

They pulled into the parking lot of Smoothie Kingdom a few minutes later and hopped out to get their drinks. She got the low-fat, high energy strawberry banana while he got the high protein and high energy blueberry kiwi. They grabbed a booth near the back of the restaurant and sipped their drinks in silence, neither all that interested in speaking after their little argument. They were both unfortunately just stubborn enough to ignore the other.

As he sipped at his drink, he couldn't help but notice how strange the situation was. He was having a smoothie with Trina Vega and she wasn't talking or being loud. The more he thought about it, the more alarming it became and he just had to know what was up. "You know, you haven't been, well, _you_ lately."

She frowned at him from over her drink, lips a bright red from the smoothie. "What's _me?_"

Andre shrugged his shoulders. He'd been doing a lot of that lately when it came to her. "You know, loud. Obnoxious. A diva."

"Yeah,well, when your sister's practically perfect, you have to do something to-" her eyes widened mid sentence, and she quickly shut her mouth and took a large gulp of her drink.

Unfortunately for her, he wasn't planning on letting it go. "Wait, you mean the reason you act like that is to get attention?" He sat back in his seat and shook his head. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Her eyes angrily snapped up to his. "What the hell do you know? You didn't have to grow up living in your little sister's shadow, always watching her get the best grades and the best presents and all of the love from Mom and Dad."

Andre leaned back and crossed his arms. "Your parents love you just as much as they love her."

"Do they?" she asked, mirroring his pose.

The question left him speechless, and he realized that he really couldn't say for sure since he didn't even live with them or see their day to day interactions. "Sorry. I just...I don't know. I like you better when you're like this. When you're real."

She scoffed and chewed on her straw. "No one notices me when I'm 'real'."

"I'm noticing you right now."

Surprised, Trina met his gaze. He was staring at her with an unreadable expression, eyes unwavering as they bore into hers. She didn't know what to think of his statement. It'd sounded innocent enough, but at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder if there was a deeper meaning to his words. She couldn't deny that he'd made her chest tighten, and the look on his face was so serious that she felt herself becoming embarrassed. Which was strange, since she'd all but squashed that emotion years ago.

She quickly drained her drink in an effort to stop herself from dwelling on his words, a move she immediately regretted a few seconds later. "Agh! Brain freeze!"

"That's what happens," he said smugly, doing the same exact thing she'd done only a minute before. "Ah! Brain freeze!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Choreography**

**Chapter 2**

Trina brushed her hair, a blank expression on her face as she looked at herself in her vanity mirror. After Andre had dropped her off at home, she hadn't been been able to concentrate on anything. His words constantly echoed in her head, frustrating her with their ambiguity. How the hell was she supposed to interpret _'I'm noticing you right now?'  
_  
Was he noticing her as a person? As a friend? Or as...something more? The corners of her lips quirked upwards and she shook her head in disbelief at the thought. Yeah right. At the very least, it had made her feel better.

Realizing what she was doing, she quickly wiped the smile off of her face and slammed the brush down on the desk. She hated feeling confused.

A soft knock at her door grabbed her attention, and she swiveled around in her chair to look at it. "What?" she asked tiredly, wanting nothing more than to forget the whole day after a full night's sleep.

"It's me. Can I come in?"

Trina sighed. Great, her little sister–the person she least wanted to see at the moment. "Sure, whatever."

The door opened a second later and the younger Vega poked her head in. "So," Tori started, awkwardly leaning against the door frame while pushing the door all the way open, "Getting ready for bed?" The older girl shot her a look that clearly said 'get to the point', so Tori cleared her throat and continued. "You'd tell me if something was going on between you and Andre, right?"

Trina laughed, and even to her ears it sounded less than authentic. "Are you kidding? Andre?"

"Well, you got back pretty late."

"It was barely seven!" she exclaimed, raising her voice slightly. She was freaked out enough about their sudden camaraderie as it was and Tori wasn't helping any.

"I know, but that's almost two hours after I left you guys." Tori was trying to keep calm, but it was obvious that she was beginning to grow impatient.

"Look, we stopped for drinks at Smoothie Kingdom and Andre doesn't let anyone except his grandma drink in his car so we ate in and talked about the video a bit. That's it." She curiously narrowed her eyes. "Why do you care?"

"Because Andre's my friend, and I don't want you to hurt him."

She didn't know whether to be shocked or appalled. Granted, her track record with boys wasn't that great and she was really mean to dorks like Robbie and Sinjin, but they weren't Andre. She knew instinctively that he wouldn't put up with any of the shit she tended to give other people.

And besides, who was Tori to decide whom Andre should and shouldn't date? Unless she actually had a thing for him, her opinion counted for absolutely nothing. Hell, her opinion still didn't count even if she did like him. She wasn't about to say any of that out loud, though.

"We're just working together. Once this whole video is over and Kojeezy makes me a superstar, we won't have anything to do with each other. Okay?"

Tori smiled slightly. "I'm not saying you can't be friends, Trina."

"Sure sounds like it." Trina got up and plopped down on her bed. "Are you done? I need my beauty rest."

Rolling her eyes, the younger brunette grabbed the doorknob to close the door. "Good night, Trina."

"Yeah."

After the door clicked shut, Trina switched her lamp off and burrowed herself into her comforter, feeling angrier than she had in awhile. The worst part, though, was that she didn't even know why. Why did it make her so angry that Tori didn't want her and Andre to get too close? And more importantly, why did she care?

Fed up with thinking about this on her own, she grabbed her cellphone from the beside table and shuffled through her recent calls until she found Andre's name. It didn't take long since he was the pretty much the only person that had been calling her for the last week.

She waited a few seconds for him to pick up, and the instant she heard the familiar click that signaled someone had answered, she took a deep breath. "Andre!" she yelled into the phone.

"Trina? Why are you calling me? And why are you yelling?" Andre asked, sounding surprisingly wide awake since it was already 11:30 and they had school the next day.

She blinked at his questions, unsure of how to answer either one of them. Why _had_ she called him?

"I, uh...what are you doing?" she finished lamely.

There was an awkward silence for a long couple of seconds, and she was worried that he was just going to hang up on her. Finally, he answered. "Uh, just working on a new song. I got inspiration for one earlier today and wanted to get something down. What's wrong?"

Ignoring his question since she really didn't have an answer for him, she sat up and crossed her legs with interest. "Can I hear some of it?"

"What?"

Trina sighed loudly. "Your song. Can I hear it?"

"It's not really fleshed out yet," he mumbled, voice suddenly much quieter.

"I don't care. Sing some of it."

He was quiet for a few more seconds, but then he sighed into the receiver. "Fine." She heard him clear his throat and begin to sing.

_"I don't know what you been used to_,  
_ Never been with a girl like you_,  
_ But, I can give you a love that's true to,_  
_ your heart, s__omething, something..._See? I told you it wasn't very good yet."

She noticed he sounded uncomfortable talking about this song, which was strange considering that he was usually happy to share his music with other people. But god, did he have a great voice. Something about the lyrics really resonated with her, and she had take a few breaths before she could speak. "No, I just...I love it."

Andre chuckled with embarrassment. "Really?"

"Really."

Another short silence followed her affirmation. "So, why did you call?" Andre asked again.

"Oh, I just, um, wanted to see if we were still holding the auditions after school tomorrow," she said, latching onto the first thing that popped into her head.

"Yeah, unless you have other plans?"

"Nope, see you then. Goodnight."

"Night, Treen."

She hung up the phone and put it back on the charger before lying back down on her bed. She still didn't know what to think about his song. She _did_ know that it made her smile, but she wasn't exactly sure why. Trina turned over and groaned into her pillow. Why was everything with him so confusing?

* * *

"Alright, watch me and follow along if you can. I'm only going through this three times."

Trina stood in front of the dance studio mirror, flanked by at least forty other kids. Both she and Andre had been shocked by the turnout, especially since they were only expecting a dozen or so auditionees. Apparently, word had gotten out that the video would be played for Kojeezy, so everyone was doing anything they could to get in front of the camera. They'd even had to turn a couple dozen other kids away at the door after evaluating their basic dance skills.

She glanced over at Andre who was currently sitting behind a table and in deep discussion with Beck about something. As if he'd felt her staring at him, he looked up at her smirked, quirking an eyebrow in mild curiosity. She rolled her eyes and returned the smile before motioning for him to start the music.

"We're going to do it half speed this time, so pay attention!" she shouted, addressing the group behind her. She went through the moves as carefully as she could, being sure to exaggerate a few of the more subtle steps since they'd be harder to see once she sped up and vocally recited the steps for those who couldn't quite understand what she was doing. She was pleased to see that at least half of the dancers had actually managed to pick it up the first time, but by the time she'd moved on to full speed, only a quarter of the kids had kept up. She decided to do a few more runs with music to continue eliminating people, and after nearly half an hour had passed, she'd made her decisions.

Panting, she walked over to the table where Andre and Beck were and plopped down in the empty seat between them. "I like numbers five, twenty six, and forty eight the best. Numbers ten and thirty one would have more camera appeal, though."

Andre nodded, showing her his own list. "I picked thirty one, twenty six, and forty one as my top three. What about you, Beck?"

"Seven, Thirty one, and forty eight."

Trina stood up again and whistled to get the dancers' attention. "Alright, we've made our decision! Thirty one, twenty six, and forty eight are our dancers. Ten will be the back up. Thanks for auditioning everyone!"

She ignored the grumbles and glares of the people who hadn't been picked and walked over to address her newly chosen dancers.

The best dancer, Thirty one, moved in front of the others and stopped Trina short. "So are we going to have a dance off for the lead or what?"

Trina blinked, put off by the sheer audacity of the blonde–Lindsay, if she remembered correctly–and frowned. "Uh, no, _I'm_ the lead. This audition was only to find backup dancers, which you'd know if you read the flyer." It was sort of a lie since Andre had never actually given her the lead role, but he also hadn't denied her.

"_You?_" The girl half laughed. "_I'm_ the best dancer at Hollywood Arts, and _you're_ Trina Vega. Maybe I should talk to the_ real_ decision makers about this," she scoffed as she looked over Trina's head at Andre and Beck.

It took every ounce of Trina's strength not to knock the girl on her ass. She didn't like to fight and hadn't been in one since middle school, but she'd lay the bitch out in a heartbeat if she kept popping her mouth off. She took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking. "I'm the choreographer on this project, and I'm the lead. If you don't like it, there's the door."

Andre appeared at her side a moment later, and she suddenly felt her bravado dissipate. "What's going on?" he asked, looking between Trina and the dancer.

The dancer, completely ignoring the older Vega, stepped closer to Andre. "Trina seems to think she's the lead."

The boy lifted his eyebrows slightly at the statement. "Because she is."

Trina might have laughed at the look on the dancer's face if she herself weren't so surprised by Andre's words. "What? _Her?_ Do you _want_ your video to suck?" Lindsey half laughed.

All signs of friendliness disappeared from his features, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Like she said, if you don't like it, there's the door."

The blonde swallowed heavily. Despite being well known for his easygoing and friendly nature, Andre could be pretty damn intimidating when he wanted to be. She knew it was time to back down. "Fine, whatever. I'll still easily outshine her when Kojeezy sees the video."

With the conflict resolved, Trina gave them their practice schedules (though she was reluctant to give it to Lindsay) and sent them on their way, feeling drained from the day's activities. Tori had left over an hour ago due to theater rehearsal, so she packed up her things and headed to Andre's car for a ride.

She was unusually quiet as Andre drove her home, and she barely even flinched when her favorite song 'Five Fingaz to the Face' came on. To him, it was as sure of a sign as any that there was something wrong with her.

"What's up?" he asked, looking away from the road long enough to gauge her expression.

Trina shrugged but didn't answer, continuing to look out of the window. How could she even begin to answer that? She was happy, confused, annoyed, tired, and worried. Each feeling on its own wasn't bad, but altogether, she felt like a mess. It wasn't until they stopped at a colorful storefront five minutes later that she decided looked over at him. "Where are we?"

"Ice cream. My treat," he said, unbuckling his seat belt.

She glanced down at herself and frowned. She was wearing a pair of black sweatpants, white sneakers, and a black and white raglan. "Ew, no, I can't go out like this. Look at what I'm wearing." She almost regretted saying that as she felt his eyes run over body, and the warmth in her cheeks surprised her.

"You look great to me. Come on."

Sighing, she reluctantly dragged herself out of his car. She was relieved that no one seemed to give her a second glance, so she felt comfortable enough to straighten up and followed him inside. They grabbed a booth in the front so that they could look out over the street and ordered simple ice cream cones; butter rum for him, and chocolate for her. Their choices in flavors weren't lost on either of them.

She took one lick of her cone and smiled, instantly feeling much better. "Thanks," she said, taking another slow lick along the side.

Andre returned the smile, taking a bite from his own. "No problem. You deserve it for all your help."

"No, I mean, for backing me up with that bitch. You didn't have to do that," she said, unable to stop the bitterness from seeping into her voice at the mention of Lindsay.

"Did you really think I'd choose a back up dancer over my lead and choreographer?"

Trina paused mid lick to stare at him. "Wait, I'm really the lead? Like, officially?"

He looked at her as if she were stupid, nearly laughing at the question. "Of course you are. Beck agrees with me and thinks that you're the only one who could do it. I told you you've got moves, and after hanging out with you so much lately, I can see that you've got heart, too." She smiled widely at him, causing Andre himself to smirk. "I wish you'd do that more."

Confused, she titled her head. "Do what?"

"Smile like you mean it. It's really pretty."

Her face fell slightly and she shrugged her shoulders awkwardly. "It'd probably be beautiful if I had huge cheekbones."

Andre scoffed and sat back to glare at her. "Would you _stop_ comparing yourself to Tori? Trina, you're-" he suddenly stopped, wide eyed, and shook his head. "Never mind."

"What?"

"Sorry, I got a little wonky in the head there," he joked, turning his head away from her.

She wanted to ask what he meant but he'd nearly inhaled the rest of his ice cream, standing up with keys in hand. She was forced to stuff hers down too, which wasn't hard since she just had the pointy tip of the cone left. She had to jog to catch up with him on the way to his car, and he didn't give her a chance to say a word as he started it up and peeled out of the parking lot as soon as she buckled her seat belt.

Despite her absolute best efforts, Andre refused to be baited into a conversation on the way to her house. Whatever he'd been about to say in the ice cream shop had spooked him into complete silence. She stepped through her front door fifteen minutes later after a rather chaste goodbye only to be met by her mom giggling to herself as she typed away on her phone to someone that probably wasn't her dad. "Hi honey, how was the audition?" she asked, not even looking up at her.

Trina let out a breath through her nose. As much as she wanted to call her mom out on the strange relationship she had with her dad's partner, she was more worried about the potential fallout that it could cause. If at all possible, she'd like to wait until she was done with college and fully self-sufficient before her illusion of a happy family shattered. "It was good, we found some great dancers," she returned flatly.

Her mother nodded before glancing up at her. "That's nice. So why are you an hour late?"

The girl tightened her lips, unable to believe that she was really getting on her case for a curfew she didn't even have. It felt a little hypocritical, actually. "Oh, Andre and I got some ice cream."

Her mother finally put down the phone and fully turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "Smoothies yesterday and ice cream today? You two are hanging out a lot outside of school."

She shrugged with annoyance and threw her purse down on the couch. It was obvious that Tori had been blabbing to their mother–for what, she couldn't figure out. "Well, this is a huge project and we have to work closely together to get it just right. The more time we put into it, the better it'll be."

Her mother hummed. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen you so excited about something," she said, a knowing look in her eyes.

"Mom,_ Kojeezy_ is going to see this. _Of course_ I'm excited."

Her mom hummed again and turned back to her phone, giggling at something she'd just read and apparently done with their conversation. Taking that as her cue to beat it, Trina jogged up the stairs to get cleaned up.

She stepped into the shower a few minutes later, sighing at how great the hot water felt on her muscles after such a long day. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for her thoughts to wander back to the conversation she'd just had five minutes prior.

She knew what her mother was implying, but it was completely off base. Andre was a great guy, sure. He was talented, friendly, relatively popular, responsible, smart, strong, and had a pretty cute smile...but they were just barely friends. Once this project was over, they wouldn't even be that. People like him and people like her just didn't belong together. Besides, she got the feeling that Tori had a little thing for him, and if that was the case she definitely didn't have a chance.

Which would be fine, since Tori and Andre were practically made for each other. Two perfect little people who'd have a perfect little relationship and have perfect little babies while juggling perfect little jobs in the music industry.

She was vaguely aware that she'd squeezed half of the soap out of the bottle and groaned soon afterwards. Great, that was at least ten dollars down the drain–literally. Mood further ruined, she finished rinsing her hair and prepared to get out of the shower.

"Trina, you have a visitor!" her mother called from downstairs.

Grumbling angrily to herself, she quickly dried herself off and put on her bathrobe. No one ever came to see her, so why did they have to come when she was trying to shower?

She didn't know who she was expecting, but Andre was the last person that had crossed her mind since he'd just dropped her off. She suddenly felt self conscious and wrapped her robe tighter around herself, miles different than the last time she'd met him in her robe. "Oh, hey Andre," she said, trying to sound as casual as she could. She ignored the eyes of both Tori and her mother as they stared at them. "What are you doing back here?"

He held up her pink backpack for her to see. "You forgot your bag in my backseat. I thought you might need it for homework or something."

Trina gaped at the bag. She hadn't even noticed it was missing. "Wow, thanks." Even though he was just being nice, it made her strangely happy that he'd come all the way back just to give it to her–especially since he seemed to be over the little funk he'd been in. "Hey, do you have your school stuff with you?"

He looked at her strangely, tilting his head a bit. "Yeah, why?"

"Since you came all the way over, why don't you just study here and stay for dinner? That's cool, right mom?" she asked, giving her mom a look that clearly told her he was staying whether it was cool with her or not.

"Sure it is. We're having family pot pie, and I'll make _two_ this time," she said, narrowing her eyes at Andre.

He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Sounds good. I'll call my grandma and let her know."

She bounded back up the stairs to get dressed as he walked out of the door, presumably to get his own backpack and call his grandmother. She considered dressing up a bit, but remembering how much he liked it when she didn't wear six inch heels and short skirts (which was still strange to her), she instead wore what she'd normally wear around the house–a pair of shorts and a Hollywood Arts t-shirt. They were just going to do their homework, anyway.

By the time she jogged downstairs again, Andre had already spread his books out on the coffee table. She frowned slightly when she saw that Tori was sitting next to him on the floor but quickly wiped it off of her face. They were actual friends, so of course he'd choose to sit with her.

Contrary to popular belief, the kids at Hollywood Arts didn't just take art related classes. They also had to take academic classes like Math and Science or else the school would lose it's accreditation. Sure, they were probably much easier than they'd be at a normal high school, but it was still a pain in the ass to do since it cut into their practice time.

She took the seat on Andre's other side, putting her own books next to his to begin studying. She tried her best not to keep glancing at him, but it was surprisingly tough. It took a good ten minutes before she was even close to being able to concentrate on her work.

Barely half an hour passed before Trina couldn't take it anymore. The smell of her mom's family pot pie continuously wafted under her nose, and groaning, she stood up. "I'm going upstairs. I can't work with that delicious smell distracting me."

"Me neither. I'll go with you," Andre said, grabbing his pre-calculus textbook.

Tori was on her feet a second later, also picking up her books. "Me too!"

She threw her backpack into her room and jumped on her bed stomach first, causing the stuffed animals she kept up there to fall off. Her bed wasn't all that big–only a full size–so when Andre sat down on her bed with his stuff, Tori had to sit in her computer chair. It was a tiny victory, sure, but Trina couldn't help but feel happy.

"You wear glasses?" Andre asked, picking up her frames from the nightstand. They were technically fashion forward being thick framed and black, but she still thought that they made her look like a dork.

Horrified that he'd found them, she leveled him with a glare. "Tell anyone and you're dead."

He laughed at the threat and held them out to her. "Put them on."

"I already have contacts in, so no."

"Come on, just for a second. Please?" he begged, brown eyes staring sadly into hers.

She sighed and rolled her eyes before doing as he asked. She hated wearing her glasses around other people, and it killed her that she was developing something of a soft spot for him. "Go ahead and laugh, I know you want to."

"Why would I laugh? You look cute."

He looked so serious that Trina scrunched her face up and hit him with her pillow, trying not to smile. "Shut up."

She really should've seen it coming since Andre never let her get away with anything, but she was still a little surprised when one of her teddy bears hit her square in the face. "Last time I give you a compliment," he joked.

"We have work to do, you know!" Tori interrupted. Both Andre and her sister looked at her incredulously. "Well, we do," she grumbled, looking back down at her book.

"She's right, the sooner I finish this the sooner I can practice the choreography some more," Andre shrugged, cracking open his own book for the second time.

They worked for another half hour in pain, their stomachs growling with the promise of the delicious meal warming in the oven.

Finally, the moment they'd been waiting for arrived. "Dinner!" their mother called from below.

Homework immediately forgotten, they quickly filed out of the room after Andre had packed his things up and headed down to the dining room. Their father had come home at some point and was already seated at the head of the table, jacket removed and gun exposed. "Hey, Mr. Vega," Andre said a bit nervously, taking the seat between Trina and her mom and leaving Tori alone on the other side of the table.

The main raised his eyebrows at this but didn't comment. "How's it going, Andre? Trina's been telling me about a video you two are working on together?"

Andre nodded, grabbing a large slice of the pie. "Yes, sir. It's going great, and Trina's really been a huge help."

"Trina?" her father asked incredulously. "_Helping?_"

A frown appearing on his face, the teen suddenly understood why Trina was the way she was. Not that she helped with the way she acted, but she was still their daughter and they shouldn't sound so surprised that she was doing something good. "She's doing all of the choreography, and she's going to be the lead dancer."

Her mother blinked owlishly at him. "_Trina?_"

Andre glanced over at Trina to see her picking disinterestedly at her slice of the pot pie and suddenly felt angry. How could they not see how talented she was? Yeah, she couldn't sing for shit, but surely they'd seen her dance before. Hell, even if they hadn't, they shouldn't be treating her like she'd never done a good thing in her life.

He clenched his fist in an attempt to calm down. "Why don't you come to the shoot? You can see Trina in action."

"I have to work," her dad said, shoveling a forkful of pie into his mouth.

"Me too," her mother chimed in. "Don't worry, honey, we'll see the video when it's done."

With that, he'd had enough. It wasn't their words that bothered him but the way they'd said them. They weren't apologetic about it all, and in fact seemed relieved that they had prior commitments. He didn't want to seem too angry, so he quickly finished his pie and stood up. "I've gotta get home to check on my grandma. See you tomorrow, Treen," he seethed, grabbing his bag and nearly stalking towards the door. He heard the sound of another chair being pushed back as he stepped outside, and a second later, a small hand wrapped around his wrist.

"Andre, wait!"

He turned to glare down at Trina. "What?"

She let out a breath through her nose. "Don't be mad at my parents. To be fair, I've never really given them a reason to _want_ to watch me. Especially after the whole showcase and one woman play thing."

Andre ran a frustrated hand through his twists. "I just...I feel like no one sees how amazing you are except for me."

The girl blinked. "You think I'm amazing?" she gawked, staring up at him. She felt her pulse rise as she tried to fight down the fluttering in her stomach.

He averted his gaze and shrugged. "Well, yeah. Don't you?"

Trina smiled wryly. "Of course I do. I'm Trina Vega, the next big superstar."

He laughed slightly and shook his head, feeling his anger begin to dissipate–which was strange since she usually tended to make him angrier. But she was right; if he hadn't gotten to know her over the past two weeks, he wouldn't have been very interested in seeing her perform, either. At the same time, though, he wasn't her family. "I'm gonna head out," he said, turning towards his car.

She watched him throw his books into the passenger side of the vehicle and shut the door, sort of wishing she could go along with him.

He paused before getting into his car and smiled at her. "Night, Trina."

"Night, Andre," she replied, returning the grin with a wave.

She watched him pull out of her driveway and drive down the road, strangely missing him already.

**AN: I'm a bit tired of this light fluff. Sorry about the errors, too. I try to proofread, but that cuts into writing time. Might need to get a beta :/ Thanks for the reviews!  
**

****** LoneTrandeFan: That is the best username! I actually laughed.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Choreography**

**Chapter 3**

The next week flew by. Trina felt exhausted between teaching the back up dancers, the constant meetings with the rest of the team to hash out the video, and practicing alone with Andre, but she also felt happy and fulfilled. For the first time she felt like she'd really found her thing. Sure, she'd always been good at dancing, but she'd never considered it as a career path. Maybe it was due to her admittedly diva attitude, but no one besides her dance teacher had ever complimented her on her moves before. At least not until recently.

"Trina," Tori said, approaching her at her locker. She had that familiar worried look on her face, instantly putting Trina on edge.

She closed the decorated door and leaned against it. "Yeah?" she asked uneasily, already sensing that this wasn't going to be good.

Her little sister grimaced. "I need to talk to you."

A sharp pang thumped through her chest. 'I need to talk' was never a good thing to hear from anyone ever, and it all but confirmed that it was something she didn't want to hear. "Can it wait? I have to hurry up and meet Andre for practice."

"That's what we need to talk about." Her panic rose tenfold, and afraid of making a scene, she grabbed Tori's arm and dragged her into the janitor's closet.

Once she'd checked it to make sure that Sinjin wasn't hiding in there as he tended to do, she turned back to her sister. "What about it?"

Well, I was talking to Beck in Sikowitz's class, and he sort of implied that Andre was starting to like you. Funny, right?" she half laughed, eyes boring into hers as if searching for something.

Trina barely noticed as Tori's words had just registered with her. Andre? Like _her_? She lightly shook her head, finding the thought to be ridiculous at best. Besides the fact that they wouldn't even be friends after the video was over, they had nothing in common. What would they even talk about? Music? Dancing? Movies? Their lives?

She blinked as she realized that was exactly what they talked about, and more. He was just so easy to talk to since he never ridiculed her for her opinions (though he'd give her strange looks sometimes), and he actually listened to her. Most guys couldn't repeat the last two words she'd said, but he could come back the next day and pick up the conversation right where they'd left it. It was then that she realized she was smiling.

Tori poked the older Vega in the shoulder. "Trina?"

"I've gotta go practice," she suddenly said, only vaguely aware that her sister had been speaking the entire time.

"Trina-hey! Wait! I'm not done talking to you!" Tori tried to stop her, but Trina was already striding towards the dance studio. She always had been more fit and much faster than herself, and since she wasn't wearing heels, the chances of her catching her older sister were slim to none.

Trina slipped through the doors of the dance studio and looked through the small window, breathing a sigh of relief when there was no sight of her sister. She'd had to do a whole loop around the school to lose Tori, though after thinking more rationally, she realized that if Tori really wanted to find her she could. She knew she was going to practice today, after all.

She turned on her heel to see Andre going through his usual warm up routine. She watched him stretch for a good minute, wiry muscles easily visible through the thin t-shirt he wore. He glanced up after hearing her approaching footsteps and smiled widely. "There you are. You ready to get started?" he asked, standing to feet.

"Sure, I stretched before I got here." She set up the stereo with practiced ease and pulled off her jacket, tossing it on an empty chair. She got into position next to him, and after confirming that he was ready, pushed the button on the stereo remote and tossed it onto the chair with her jacket.

The music started a couple of seconds later, and she was unsurprised to see that after hours of practice, they were in absolute perfect sync. He moved as an extension of her and vice versa. He matched her move for move in front of the mirror, and realizing that she didn't even need to watch him anymore, she threw herself fully into performing.

Andre couldn't help but feel as though something was different. There was an intensity to her movements that hadn't existed before. Whereas before she'd try not to rub against him too much (for his sake more than her own), it now felt like she was deliberately trying to brush against him every chance she got. He fully realized how crazy that sounded and tried to brush it off as his overactive imagination, but the more they danced, the less convinced he became.

They ended the same way they usually did–faces six inches apart as they stared at each other. Usually she'd back away and begin to point out the places where he'd messed up–only this time she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, standing on her toes since he was a good five inches taller than her.

The first thing she noticed was that his lips were remarkably soft, and she suddenly understood why his ex-girlfriend Sherry hadn't been able to let him go. The second was that he was a really, _really_ good kisser.

She felt his hands roughly grip her hips and pull her closer against him, deepening their kiss. She'd always liked being manhandled a bit, so the simple action only increased her pleasure. She slid her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, and to her, it was the most perfect feeling in the world.

At least until he gently pushed himself away from her and laughed. She stared up at him confused, smiling slightly at the amused expression on his face.

"What?" She asked, wanting to be let in on the joke.

Andre shook his head and chuckled. "Look, Trina, I already told you you got the role. You didn't have to kiss me to prove that you could pretend to be in love with me."

All hints of her smile immediately vanished. An angry, vicious scowl replaced it a second later, and she stepped away from him as if he'd just slapped her. "You think I kissed you for that stupid role?"

His eyes widened slightly, and for the first time, he realized that he may have made a huge mistake. "Well...yeah. Didn't you?"

She glared fiercely at him for another second before snatching up her gym bag and stalking to the studio doors.

"Where are you going?!" Andre called after her. When she didn't answer, he jogged towards her in an attempt to catch up. "Trina!"

Trina wheeled around to look at him, eyes blazing. "Leave me alone," she seethed.

Andre blinked in confusion. "Wait, what just happened?"

Rather than answer him, she simply turned back around and exited the room, too pissed off to even think about slamming the door behind her.

The teen stared at the open door with his jaw agape. He couldn't understand what had set her off. One minute they were kissing, and the next she wanted to kill him. So that's why he did what he always did when he had a problem that he couldn't figure out; called his best friend. He grabbed his new cell phone–his grandmother had thrown the last one against the wall because it'd talked to her–and quickly found Beck's number. He waited impatiently for him to pick up, and it took a full five rings for the familiar click of someone picking up the phone reached his ears.

"Yeah?" Beck asked, sounding distinctly out of breath.

Andre rolled his eyes. It wasn't the first time he'd answered this way, and after hearing an irritated voice ask 'who the hell is it?', he instantly knew what his friend had been doing. "I need your help, man. I'm comin' over."

"Hold on a second." He heard Beck say something to whom he hoped was Jade, and it was immediately followed by a loud, angry no. Beck picked up the phone again a second later. "Sure, I'll be here." An even angrier scream followed this proclamation and Andre winced. If he weren't so desperate he'd call the whole thing off.

"Thanks, see you in a bit."

After turning off the stereo and turning off the lights, he ran out the door and hopped in his car. He reached Beck's trailer five minutes later, and slightly dreading the confrontation that would undoubtedly happen when he knocked, he braced himself and lightly rapped his knuckles against the door. It opened shortly afterwards to reveal an extremely pissed off looking Jade, and she crossed her arms over her chest to regard him with a cantankerous glare.

"What do _you_ want?"

Andre shrunk a little under her icy blue gaze. He was mostly used to her rude personality and was fairly confident that she'd never seriously hurt him, but she still scared the ever living shit out of him sometimes. "I gotta talk to Beck about something important."

"Oh, yeah? What?"

"Babe, let him in," her boyfriend called from inside the trailer.

Jade glared down at him for another few seconds, but she eventually sighed deeply and stepped aside, giving him just enough room to squeeze past her.

"Sorry to interrupt your, uh, private time," he mumbled awkwardly, trying not to stare at or rub against the cleavage revealed by Jade's undone shirt buttons. "I just really need your advice."

Beck motioned for him to take a seat, his own shirt half undone. "I'm all ears."

Andre opened his mouth to speak, but then his eyes slid over to Jade once again. After closing and locking the door behind him, she'd curled up next to Beck and laid her head on his shoulder, staring at him with barely hidden curiosity. She had her legs curled beneath her, and for the first time he noticed that she was wearing a pair of black rather short shorts; a rarity for her since she was usually in a pair of tight pants or leggings. "Uh, do you mind?"

"No, do you?" Jade snapped back.

He looked to Beck for help, but his friend just gave him an apologetic look and motioned for him to continue. "Fine. It's about Trina," he relented after a couple of seconds.

Jade choked on her spit. "Trina? Trina _Vega_?"

"Let him finish," Beck said, sitting up a little straighter. He suddenly seemed interested, apparently knowing something Jade didn't.

"Yeah, well, she's kinda mad at me and I don't know what I did."

"Just start from the beginning."

Andre sighed through his nose. He preferred not to do this in front of Jade, but at the current moment, he felt like he didn't have much of a choice. "Okay, we were practicing our scenes again, and you know how we kinda stop really close together in the last number? Well, she kissed me."

Both Beck and Jade's eyes widened.

"Did you break out in hives?" Beck asked, slack jawed.

Jade's expression mirrored her boyfriend's. "How are you even still _alive_?"

"No, it was good. I liked it."

The two of them stared at him as if they'd never seen him before.

"That's _weird_. Go on," Beck mumbled.

"After that I laughed a little and asked why she kissed me since she was already the lead and all and had nothing else to prove, but then she just flipped out on me for no reason. I don't get it, man."

Unable to stop herself, Jade sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "Gee, maybe she's mad because she actually likes you?"

Andre balked. As strange as it sounded, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. "_Trina?_"

"I know it's weird, but that's the only thing I can think of. It's not like you said her kiss sucked, right?" she reasoned.

"No, I told you, it was good. Amazing."

"We're still talking about Trina, right?" Beck asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend. Andre shot him a frown, so he shrugged and continued. "Look, she kissed you and you laughed in her face. She sorta has a reason to be mad."

Andre's face fell into his hands. It was so glaringly obvious now that they'd said it. He didn't have low self-esteem or anything, but Trina had always felt a bit out of his league. She was just so flamboyant and full of energy and he, well...wasn't. He'd also assumed that she was more superficial–that she relied solely on looks to decide on how much she liked a guy. He was no slouch, but he was no Beck, either. "I'm an idiot, huh?"

"Yep," Jade said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Sorry, dude."

"So...what should I do?" the dark-skinned teen nearly begged, looking at the both of them for answers.

Jade snorted. "Get your head checked."

"Jade!" Beck snapped, giving her an admonishing glare. She sucked her teeth and looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention back to Andre. "You gotta make it right. You know Trina better than anyone right now-do something you know the_ real_ her would like."

"The only thing real about Trina is how annoying she is," Jade mumbled under her breath. She avoided Beck's disapproving gaze and continued. "But Beck's right. Since you seem to see something magical in her and all, it shouldn't be too hard to think up a good idea."

Andre slowly nodded his head, liking the idea the more he thought about it. Unfortunately he didn't have much longer to think as the pale brunette hopped up and opened the only exit of the trailer. "Well, _bye_."

Shaking his head, Andre stood to his feet and held his fist out for Beck to pound with his own before leaving, once again having to squeeze around Jade's body to get outside.

That night, Andre couldn't sleep. Over and over he thought of what he could do to make things right –to make her smile at him again like she'd been doing for the past few weeks.

But what could he do? Buy her shoes? Jewelry? Trina loved both equally, but it didn't feel like the right gift. It didn't feel like something she'd truly appreciate for long, and frankly, he couldn't afford it. Besides, material things could make anyone happy for a short time, but what could really touch a person? What could stay with them for the rest of their lives?

His eyes lit up as he remembered how much she loved his music, and suddenly, he had it. It was perfect, and it amazed him that it'd taken so long to think of it. Hell, he was amazed it'd taken him so long to realize what the song he'd been working on in his downtime was really about. With a clear plan of action in mind, he jumped out of bed and immediately got to work. It wasn't like he was getting much sleep anyway.

* * *

Andre stumbled down the hallway towards his first class, ignoring and just plain not noticing the concerned stares and whispers of the other students. To put it mildly, he was exhausted. He'd spent all night working on finishing the lyrics for the song, and it was just an hour ago that he'd officially finished.

He slept through most of his classes that day in preparation of his impromptu performance. Luckily his teachers were giving him a bit of a break since the entire school knew about the Kojeezy shoot and even they were excited. A big time record producer showing up at the school was great for publicity and getting more students' money, and more money meant more raises and better job security.

When he wasn't sleeping, he was quietly singing the words to himself or trying to imagine how she'd react. He got more than a few funny looks from other students, but he didn't care. The only person who mattered to him at that moment was Trina.

After school he waited anxiously in the dance studio for Trina to show. She might have been pissed off at him, but if there was one thing he'd learned about her in their short time together it was that she always kept to her commitments. If she actually cared, that is.

She frowned at him as she walked in, and then scowled when she noticed the slight grin on his face. "What's the keyboard for?"

Andre nervously licked his lips, already feeling nervous under her venomous glare."I finished that song I was working on a couple of weeks ago and thought you might want to hear it. You know, since you said you liked it."

She was angry beyond belief with him, but she couldn't deny that she was curious. With a heavy sigh, she plopped down on the large beanbag he'd set out in front of the keyboard and tucked her legs underneath her, staring up at him expectantly.

He didn't quite know why her gaze made him so nervous, but it did. He'd sung in front of hundreds of people, but never in his life had he been so unsure of himself. He awkwardly fumbled around with a few settings on the keyboard before gently resting his fingers on the keyboard, and after taking a deep, calming breath, he cleared his throat and began to sing.

_"I don't wear designer clothes_  
_ I don't go to the finest schools_  
_ But, I know...I ain't no fool baby_

_ I may not be a star_  
_ I'm not driving the sickest car_  
_ But, I know...I can make you happy baby_

_ I don't know what you been used to_  
_ Never been with a girl like you_  
_ But, I can give you a love that's true to..._  
_ your heart, not material things._

_ I'll give you my song_  
_ These words to you_  
_ Sing you what I feel_  
_ My soul is true,_

_ I don't have the world_  
_ Can't give it to you girl_  
_ But all that I can do_  
_ Is give the song to you,_

_ Yeah I know that you are blessed_  
_ But, there's something that you're missing yeah_  
_ Your own melody,_  
_ Oh baby_

_ I don't know what you been used to_  
_ Never been with a girl like you_  
_ But, I can give you a love that's true to_  
_ your heart, not material things._

_ I'll give you my heart, my song, my words baby_  
_ What I can say, I'll sing it._  
_ Oh, oooh, oooooh_

_ I'll give my song and the rest to you baby_  
_ Sing you what I feel, my soul is true."_

When he finished, he noticed that she didn't look angry anymore. Her expression was just...unreadable. He stepped out from behind the instrument and walked to stand in front of her.

"Trina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh."

She shook her head and smiled dryly. "No, I guess I'd laugh too if I kissed me."

"It's not that, I swear it's not. I just..." he sighed and scratched at his dreads as he struggled to come up with the correct thing to say to her. For a guy who could write such amazing words, he sure had a lot of trouble just saying them.

"Don't worry, I already forgot about it," she mumbled, looking away.

"No!" he exclaimed a little too loudly. "I don't want to forget about it."

She looked confusedly up at him. "What?"

He knelt down on the bean bag, cupped her cheek, and leaned his lips down to hers, giving her a gentle kiss. She didn't kiss him back for a full five seconds, and just as he was getting worried that he'd made a mistake, she timidly began to return it, moving herself a little bit closer to his body.

Encouraged by her response, he leaned over her a little more and deepened the kiss. He felt her fingers intertwine with his, and that's when he sat back enough to stare straight into her eyes. He saw a flicker of something–what, he couldn't say–but just as soon as it'd appeared it was gone, leaving him wondering if he'd seen anything at all.

"We should...start practicing," she breathed after a few more seconds, eyes not quite meeting his.

"Okay." He tried not to show his disappointment at her lack of reaction, because to be fair, he _had_ blindsided her with this whole thing.

He stood up first and held out his hand for her take, frowning when she ignored him in favor of getting up on her own. She walked over to the stereo and flipped it

The practice was awkward as neither had their minds on dancing at the present moment. After an hour of distant stumbling, Trina had called it quits for the day and he certainly wasn't complaining. Besides, he pretty much knew the choreography by heart to the point that he was doing it in his dreams. They quickly packed up their stuff and headed out to his car to go home, barely exchanging a word between them the entire time.

As he drove her home, he glanced over at her from the driver's seat to see her staring out of the window. He took in her slightly messy hair, the smooth, thin contours of her neck, and then his eyes flickered down to her chest-one that could even rival Jade's. Realizing what he was doing, he snapped his head back to the road lest he kill them both. It was dangerous to look away while driving in L.A., after all.

He pulled into her driveway and parked, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Trina, about earlier-"

"Night, thanks for the ride," she said, nearly flying out of his car. He watched her jog up the front steps, open the door, and slip inside without so much as a second glance.

Andre groaned and allowed his head to hit the steering wheel. Well, that hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped.

Shortly after Andre had dropped her off, Trina ran up the stairs, shed her clothing, and hopped into the bathtub for a long soak. She greatly preferred showers since she didn't have time to do nothing but sit in a tub of her own dirt for an hour, but as far as she was concerned, a situation like this demanded it. She lie in the tub and stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out the mystery that was her and Andre's relationship.

He'd written her a beautiful song, and then kissed her. What was she supposed to say to that? It was, quite literally, the nicest thing a guy had ever done for her. She hoped he hadn't noticed, but she'd been shaking the entire time they were together. If she hadn't called it quits when she did, she might have broken down right there in the studio.

It was just all so confusing. What did he want, exactly? Did he think she was just a desperate, easy lay? He certainly wouldn't be the first guy. Most seemed to think that just because a lot of boys avoided her meant that she'd throw herself at any penis within a five mile radius. Seconds after the thought passed her mind she dismissed it.

Andre wasn't most guys. Besides the fact that one of his best friends was her sister and it would cause an unbelievable amount of drama, he just didn't have it in him to purposefully screw someone over. So did that mean that he actually liked her? She closed her eyes and groaned, sinking into the bathtub.

When he'd first approached her about doing the choreography for his video she figured that at most she'd get a juicy credit on her resume, and if she played her cards right, a chance to play her demo tape for Kojeezy himself. She hadn't expected to get a friend let alone a boyfriend out of it.

Trina laughed humorlessly at her train of thought. A couple of kisses and she was already claiming him as her boyfriend. She had to wonder if it was even a good idea to pursue a relationship with her little sister's best friend. The moment Tori decided she wasn't okay with them dating–or worse, decided that she wanted Andre for herself–they'd be through. Tori had more or less always gotten her way, so why would now be any different?

The brunette sunk as low as she could into the bathtub, submerging her entire body beneath the quickly cooling water. So much for getting a good night's sleep.

**AN: Yeah, I switched the song. After really listening to Song2You, I realized it was pretty much perfect for Trina and their relationship.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Choreography**

**Chapter 4**

Trina barely slept a wink thanks to Andre, and because of her fatigue, she decided to forgo her more outlandish clothing and settled on a pair of jeans, a blouse, and ballet flats. She only put on a bit of foundation and eyeliner since anything more seemed impossible in her current state, and she'd probably only end up making herself look like a clown. It was all she could work up the energy to put on and even getting to her room door took a huge amount of effort.

Tori stared at her as she came down the stairs, eyebrows raised curiously. "Awfully low key today, aren't you?"

"Well, even _I_ can't look amazing everyday," Trina shrugged, yawning towards the end of her sentence. She grabbed her bag off of the couch and slung it over her shoulder, heading towards the door. "You drive, I'd just kill us both."

Tori frowned but complied, grabbing the keys off of the counter top and following her out. The frown stayed on her face the entire drive to school, and even after she arrived she couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling in her chest that she was missing something.

Trina was different, and after thinking about it, she realized that Andre was different, too. She'd chalked up their recent distance from her to the video, but maybe there was something more going on and she'd just been too naive to notice. Not that she was complaining. Trina was nicer, quieter, and seemed happier than she had been only two weeks ago, but she still wanted to know why and fully intended to find out what was going on.

Her sister walked off as soon as they arrived at school, putting a large wrench into her plan of grilling her for information. Luckily she spotted another friend who might know something, and she quickly moved to approach her.

"Jade!" she called, walking up to the taller girl. Jade closed her locker and sped off, forcing Tori to break out into a jog to grab her arm. "Jade!"

"Oh, hey, Tori. I didn't see you there," she drawled, sarcasm heavy in her voice.

Tori ignored her sarcasm and took a deep breath, amazed that such a small amount of running had tired her out. She really needed to exercise more. "Has Beck mentioned anything about Trina and Andre?"

Jade smirked and turned all the way around to look at her, finally interested in what she had to say. "Aw, is Tori a wittle jeawous?"

The brunette frowned. "It's not that, I'm just concerned." Even to her own ears she sounded jealous, but that couldn't have been what she was feeling. She loved Andre, sure, but not like _that._ She also loved her sister, and the last thing she wanted was for them to unintentionally hurt each other.

Andre was a great guy overall, but when it came to girls, he could be a little...jerky. Not intentionally as far she knew, but he always felt like he had to act like a player to keep girls interested in him, using smooth lines and 'cool' mannerisms that just weren't who he really was. Because of this, no girl was ever able to really get close to him and he ultimately ended up getting bored and breaking up with them.

Trina, well...Trina was a mess. She seemed to attract the worst types of guys, and the good guys she did occasionally go on a date with she quickly lost interest in claiming they were too 'boring' or worse, not hot enough enough. She didn't seem to want an actual good guy and only cared about how they would affect her social status.

In a rare moment of empathy, Jade gave Tori the absolute least comforting smile she could manage. "Don't worry, they're big kids now. I'm pretty sure that they can take care of themselves." With that, she turned on her heel and walked towards her first class, not giving her 'friend' the chance to say anything else.

While the words had been short and to the point, Tori had to admit that Jade was right. It really was none of her business, and they were both older than her and could make their own decisions. None of that answered the one question she couldn't find an answer to:

_Why did she care so much?_

* * *

The dance studio was empty, giving Trina Vega much needed isolation to gather her thoughts. She still had around half an hour before Andre was supposed to show up for practice, and to put it mildly, she was freaking out. Would he want to immediately talk about what had happened the day before? Demand an answer to his feelings? He hadn't asked her anything about the kiss despite them eating lunch together, and she had to admit that she was grateful for that.

After a long night of tossing and turning, she'd chosen to forget about it for the time being. It was impossible for her to concentrate on dancing or anything else for that matter when she was thinking about him, but she knew his patience could only last so long. She didn't know what else to do, so she decided to do the only thing that ever calmed her down when she was stressed.

Choosing a song from her iPod, she closed her eyes to get familiar with the beat again. She started out slow, making large, sweeping gestures. By the time the chorus kicked in she wasn't even thinking about moves anymore, simply allowing her body to move in time with the music. Dancing was therapeutic for her. When she was moving her body, everything else shut down.

Unbeknownst to her, Andre was watching from the doorway. She was doing things he hadn't even seen before. If he was remembering what he'd learned in his History of Dance class correctly, she was using a style known as interpretive dance-a style that wasn't new by any means, and was often thought to be one of the first ever invented. It was a style that was usually used to convey emotion or tell a story, and she must have been doing a good job since he could clearly see her emotions in each movement. He didn't know how, but he could feel her confusion, anger, and sadness through her dancing. Oddly enough, he could also feel her conflicting emotions of joy and love.

He watched her for another few minutes, staying as still as he could so that she wouldn't notice him staring at her. When the song ended, he decided to be the first to extend the olive branch. It was his fault things were so awkward in the first place. "Man, I still can't get over how good you are," he called, slowly walking into the room. "Is there any kind of dancing that you can't do?"

Trina jumped slightly, not expecting anyone to be watching her. When she saw who it was she smiled, albeit embarrassedly. "That's nothing, I was just letting off some steam."

Andre swallowed at that, feeling guilty that he was mostly likely the cause of her frustration. "Didn't look like nothing. Seriously, is there any dance you can't do?"

She hummed in thought, eyes rolling towards the ceiling. "I've never been very good at ballet, and twerking is actually kind of hard to do correctly."

Andre choked back a laugh. "_Twerking?_ Isn't that just shaking your butt? How hard could _that_ be?" He furrowed his eyebrows when she sighed exaggeratedly and walked over to the stereo in the corner. "What're you doing?" he asked, also walking closer to see. He leaned over her shoulder and watched as she shuffled through her library of music, smirking appraisingly at her taste. Finally, she stopped on a familiar track, one that he remembered well from middle school. It was a rap song, and a rather..._dirty_ one at that. He was no stranger to this type of music, but he didn't know why she was choosing now of all times to listen to it.

At least until the music started and she started to dance.

Andre stared wide eyed as her ass popped, gyrated, and jerked and in perfect rhythm with the beat. She'd obviously practiced this before, and he felt mildly jealous of the last guy who'd gotten to see this. It was mesmerizing, and all he could do was gawk stupidly. He felt like a snake while she was the snake charmer. It amazed him that he could find something so simple so...sexy.

He was more than a little thankful that she was wearing sweatpants as just the idea of her in anything less might have actually stopped his heart. He'd always sort of thought she had a nice ass, but when it was put on display like it was...fuck. It was taking so much effort not to reach out and grab it–or worse.

All things considered, he thought he was doing a pretty good job of not getting too excited-at least until she turned and made eye contact with him. Her gaze electrified him, and though her body was still moving to the music, it was her light brown eyes that held his attention.

He didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed that the song ended when it did, but he did know that he had to take a seat or else she'd see just how much he liked her performance. "Damn, girl, you could kill a man with that," he breathed, trying to smile through the desire he felt for her.

"You look pretty alive to me," she joked, looking a little flushed and out of breath. "Maybe I should try it again?"

Andre stared up at her in shocked silence. He knew what he was feeling towards her at that moment was nothing but pure, unadulterated lust. He had real feelings for her, sure, but at the moment the only thing he could think about was shoving her up against the nearest wall. "It's not nice to tease," he finally said, half of a smirk popping up on his face despite the warning look in his eye.

She stepped closer, invading his personal bubble, and her voice dropped into a whisper. "I'm not a nice girl."

At that, something in him snapped. He slowly got to his feet until he was towering over her, looking down into her challenging eyes. She was daring him to make his move, and who the hell was he to not rise to her expectations? Growling slightly he shoved his lips against hers, and right afterwards, her arms slipped around his neck to pull his head down a little more. He backed her towards the mirrored wall until she was flush against him and trapped her there with his arms. He could feel every part of her, and she him.

He'd kissed his fair share of girls over the years, but not like this. There was nothing innocent nor pure about what they were doing, and if they weren't careful...

Eyes snapping open, Andre broke away and grabbed his head, grimacing as if in immense pain. "Why did you do that?"

Trina frowned, still a little breathless from their kiss. "Do what? _You_ kissed _me_."

Andre shook his head, trying to gain control of himself again. He never let himself get that worked up and was always careful to make sure that the girl he was with wasn't being pressured into something she didn't want to do. It scared him that he hadn't even thought about what her feelings were while he was kissing her, too concerned with fulfilling his own needs to pay attention to hers. "I thought you were just gonna ignore my feelings after you didn't say nothing about it all day," he mumbled, finally able to look at her again.

She let out a quiet breath through her nose, unsure of how to explain herself to him. "I needed time to think about what this would mean. I needed to make sure you actually liked _me_ and that I wasn't just some consolation prize for Tori."

His expression darkened slightly. She wasn't the first person who had misunderstood his friendship with Tori, but he'd hoped that she of all people would see it for just that–a friendship. "And?"

"And I realized that the only thing that really mattered was how I felt about you."

Noticing how uncomfortable Trina looked after basically admitting her feelings towards him, Andre smirked. He took a step closer to her, maintaining eye contact the entire time. "How do you feel about me?"

She shot him an annoyed look, a little upset that he was trying to force her to say something he obviously already knew. Well, if that was what he wanted, then fine. "I like you."

He felt his chest tighten, and the only way he could keep himself from smiling was by biting the inside of his cheek. "Why?"

"Andre!" she yelled, punching him on the shoulder.

He shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "Sorry, I'm just a little happy. I thought I was the only one who felt this way." Now that both of their feelings were out there, he didn't really know what to say next. "So, are we like, together now?"

Trina frowned. "I don't know, you're a sophomore," she said, unable to stop a smirk of her own from slipping onto her face when he laughed at the reference to the first time they'd met. Her face quickly took on a more serious expression. "I think we should talk more about it after we finish the video. We're both being run ragged right now."

Andre nodded, running a hand through his dreads. He couldn't argue with that. It wouldn't exactly be wise to start something serious while things were so crazy, but he wasn't sure if he could actually stay away from her that long. "Yeah, waiting to talk about it is probably the best idea," he mumbled, trying not to look as disappointed as he felt.

The older girl's smile widened. "But we don't have to talk at all right now." He was confused for a second–at least until she practically attacked him, lips pressing themselves insistently against his own. It was his turn to be shoved against the mirror, the only difference being that she wasn't going to let him go until she was satisfied.

Neither of them noticed the pair of angry brown eyes staring at them through the window of the dance studio.

* * *

For Trina, the next week was one of the busiest in her life. When she wasn't rehearsing or doing homework, she and Andre were finding little pockets of time to make out in empty classrooms or broom closets. Most of the time they'd be in his car, finding abandoned parks or secluded shopping areas where they wouldn't be bothered. Both felt it'd be best if they kept things on the downlow for the time being; they wanted to have some sort of a foundation before letting the entire school know that they were a whole heck of a lot more than friends.

She had to admit that sneaking around was a little exciting. The only ones who knew of their arrangement were Beck and Jade, and that was because they'd stumbled upon them while trying to get some quality time of their own in.

The only real problem was her sister. She'd noticed Tori's growing annoyance with her and Andre but decided not to acknowledge it or let him know just yet. As long as she wasn't actively trying to sabotage their relationship that she hopefully knew nothing about, she really didn't care how Tori felt as selfish as it sounded. She had better and more important things to think about, like where they were going to make out next or how she could make him whimper again like she'd done the night before.

Speaking of her sister, they were just arriving at Hollywood Arts. Tori had been driving them lately since not only was Trina too tired to do it, but Tori was just an all around better and safer driver. "Thanks, see you at the shoot," Trina said absentmindedly, hopping out of the car before it'd even stopped.

"Seriously, what's been going on with you lately? You just_ thanked_ me!"

Trina ignored her sister's incredulous stare in favor of checking her phone for messages. In the time it'd taken her to get out of the car and into the parking lot, she'd gotten a new message from Andre. She quickly banged out a reply, her fingers a blur on her PearPhone.

**Andre: Today's gonna be awesome. You excited?**

**Trina: You know it :)**

Her smile must have been large as Tori edged closer and tried to see her phone. "Who are you texting? You look like mom whenever she texts to dad's partner."

Feeling a little embarrassed that she'd been caught grinning so widely, Trina scoffed. "None of your business." She pocketed her phone and headed for the door of the school. "Let's go, we're going to be late." Still looking at her suspiciously, Tori followed.

The moment they walked through the doors of Hollywood Arts, a strange pressure descended upon them. She wasn't the most popular girl in school, sure, but it was like everyone was actively avoiding her. She caught a few whispers and glances her way, and she couldn't figure out what had changed between yesterday and today.

"What's going on?" Trina asked, separating herself from her little sister and walking up to Beck.

The taller boy smiled humorlessly. "Nothing, just some stupid high school drama. You know how it is."

Unwilling to let him get off so easily, Trina stepped in front of him. "Like what?"

Beck sighed. "Look, I've gotta go, Trina. Seriously, don't worry about it. Concentrate on the video, alright?" He pat her lightly on the shoulder and walked off to his first class, leaving her with more questions than answers.

It was a strange day after that at Hollywood Arts. No one seemed to want to meet her eyes, and the moment she walked into a room, the volume dropped to a whisper. She was used to being somewhat of a pariah, but not like this. The most confusing thing was that she'd seen Lindsey smiling smugly at her with her friends, looking far too pleased with herself.

After such a tense and uncomfortable morning, she was relieved when her second class was over so that she could head straight to the school's film studio. Everyone who was working on Andre's video was allowed to miss their afternoon classes to film–hence the reason so many people were eager to help out.

On her way to her locker, a dancer she recognized from the auditions bumped into her hard enough to make her drop her books. When the girl didn't try to help her or even mutter out an apology, she glared after the bitch. She wanted so badly to chase after her and really give her something to be upset with her about, and the only reason she didn't was because they were shooting in less than an hour. Hollywood Arts had a zero tolerance policy on fighting, and she couldn't risk a week's detention over something so stupid and petty. Andre was counting on her, and she'd be damned if she let him down.

"Let me help you with that," a girl said, bending down to pick up a few of her books.

Trina grabbed the Algebra book from the girls hands, relieved that at least _someone_ in the school wasn't being a total wazzbag. "Thanks."

"No problem. Anything for the slut sleeping her way to the top."

Trina snapped her head up, only to see that it was Lindsey smirking wickedly back at her. She grit her teeth and swallowed the bile rising in her throat. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, don't try to play innocent. Everyone knows about you and Andre hooking up. I _thought_ it was strange that you became the lead dancer over me."

The brunette closed her eyes to stem her anger. At the very least that explained the whispers. "I'm the lead because I'm a better dancer."

A sharp bark of laughter erupted from the blonde's throat, and she leaned back on her heels to stare at Trina incredulously. "Do you honestly believe that? God, I knew you were stupid, but this is ridiculous. In case you somehow misunderstood what I just said, let me explain it in a way that even you can understand: Andre picked you because he wanted to _fuck_ you."

Trina clenched her fist. She was going to hit her. As much as she wanted to shoot this video and as much as she didn't want to let Andre down, she was going to cave to cave the bitch's face in if it was the last thing she ever did. All of the logic in the world couldn't stop her, and it felt like someone else was controlling her body as she raised her fist. She saw Lindsey's eyes widen as she too realized what was about to happen.

Jade roughly pulled the girl to her feet, a mere second before Trina was going to throw her punch. "Don't you have somewhere to be? Maybe a street corner to stand on?"

The blonde glared at Jade but quickly withered under the goth's much more piercing gaze. She'd heard about the things Jade had done to her enemies, and she didn't particularly want to piss off a girl who regularly carried a pair of large scissors around with her and made movies about death and violence. To maintain at least a shred of her dignity, Lindsay walked off in a huff, shooting them both one last glare.

Trina barely noticed the girl leave. She was visibly shaking with rage, struggling to calm herself down by thinking of things that made her happy. Words usually never got to her like this. People had been talking smack about her for years, but this time it'd actually angered her.

"Calm down, Vega. If you let trash like that get to you, you'll never make it in the music industry." Jade said, holding out her hand to help the girl up.

She took a few more deep breaths and accepted the offered hand. Her blood pressure was spiking to the point where she could feel little beads of sweat begin to pop up on her forehead. She hadn't been this angry in awhile. "Thanks, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't stopped me. If I could replace her with another dancer, I would."

Jade nodded, giving her a somewhat sympathetic frown. "Well, we can't have you ruining this video for Andre. You're actually not doing a terrible job for once."

Trina laughed a little, already feeling better. From Jade, that was a real compliment. "Well, thanks again. Are you coming to the shoot?"

The taller girl sighed dramatically. "I guess I'd better since my boyfriend's directing it and all. Let's go." Without waiting to see if she was ready Jade strode off, forcing Trina to quickly shove her things in her locker and catch up.

"Why are you being nice to me?" she asked after matching Jade's pace.

Jade frowned. "Well, you're a whole lot less annoying when you're not hitting on my boyfriend."

By the time they arrived at the shoot things were already in full swing. There was a definite excitement in the air as students milled around, setting up props and equipment at the direction of Sinjin, Robbie, and Beck. The principal had even shown up as it was a pretty huge deal for the school as well, and she could see him standing in a corner talking to Lane. The girls split up to find their respective 'boyfriends,' barely giving each other a parting glance. They weren't really friends, but their relationship was a lot better than it had been.

"Trina!" a voice called from behind her, and she turned to see Andre waving her over. Against her will a smile instantly popped onto her face, and she jogged over to meet him. Without even think about it she wrapped her arms him and hugged him, sighing softly when he returned it. All of the murderous rage and bitter resentment she'd just been feeling was melted off of her by Andre's warmth. She didn't really want to let go when, but any longer and it might've crossed the lines from a friendly hug into a...well, a hug that might raise a few eyebrows. Especially with the rumors flying around about them.

"Nervous?" she asked, noting the way he kept playing with his tie after they'd separated.

"A little. This is a big deal for us."

"Us?" Trina repeated. It made her heart skip a beat the way he thought about the both of them as one.

He looked a little surprised himself that he'd said it but quickly recovered. "Yeah, well, I mean you choreographed this thing. It can really help your _dancing_ career."

She frowned at the way he stressed the word dancing, but decided to overlook it. She couldn't deny that she enjoyed dancing more than both acting and singing put together, but she still wasn't willing to give up on her goal of being a triple threat. "True. I'm going to go get changed." She felt his eyes on her as she walked away, and she couldn't stop herself from putting just a little extra sway into her hips. She knew how he felt, because she was feeling it too.

It didn't take her long to get into her first outfit since it was a short, blue sequined dress and a pair of high top sneakers. Their wardrobe designer had done an amazing job with their outfits, and though she always thought she looked good, now she thought she looked fucking amazing. By the time she arrived back on set, everything was in place and Robbie and Sinjin were setting up and testing the lights.

She quickly found Andre giving orders to a few freshmen and walked over to him. "When do we start shooting?"

Andre turned around and opened his mouth to answer, but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat. She saw his eyes run down her body with unhidden interest, and it made her smile more than it should have that he obviously liked what he saw if the way he was licking his lips was any indication.

"Now," Beck interrupted, walking over with Sinjin in tow. Sinjin was currently fiddling with what looked like an over-sized television remote, and like usual, he was mumbling weirdly to himself. "We're going to start with the chorus. It's the harder dance, so getting it out of the way first is probably a good idea."

Trina nodded, agreeing with him. Even if they ran out of time or storage space on just the group number, they could always re-shoot the parts with just the two of them later without having to worry about scheduling another studio day and getting all of the dancers back together.

She quickly gathered up the dancers–even Lindsey, though it was difficult to speak to her without wanting to break her nose–and put them in position. They went through a set of quick warm up stretches, ran through the sequence a couple of times for a refresher, and after she was confident that they had it down, nodded towards Beck as a sign to get things started.

It wasn't necessary for the set to be quiet since they were only recording video, so without bothering to ask for complete silence, he motioned for Robbie to start the camera. "Rolling," Robbie said holding up a finger, after about five seconds, he pointed at Sinjin to lower the lights.

"Action!" Beck shouted, motioning for the girl manning the audio equipment to start the song.

Music boomed from the speakers a few seconds before the chorus. Trina and Andre looked at each other, smiled and began to dance.

An hour later, Trina plopped down tiredly into a large pink beanbag, glad to finally have a break after near nonstop dancing. They'd gone through the group number almost twenty times and from four different angles, pretty much ensuring that they wouldn't have to do any re-shoots. At first glance the footage had looked amazing, and that was before the color correction and special effects they were planning to add.

"You were great," Andre said, handing her a bottle of water. Smiling gratefully, Trina took it and snapped it open in one movement, thirstily downing half of it in one go.

"Thanks, you too." She shuffled over so that he could sit down next to her. It wasn't really made for two people, so they were practically on top of each other when he squeezed onto the cushion with her. Even though they were both a little sweaty, she didn't mind. His arm slipped around behind her and she leaned her head back onto it, glad for the support. It felt a little _too_ good just sitting with him. Unfortunately they were in full view of pretty much everyone, and being conscious of how they might look to the casual observer she turned her head to stare at him. "Andre..."

"Hm?" he said around his own bottle of water, finishing it off and setting it down next to him.

He didn't seem to even notice their proximity, so she decided to shrug it off. Guys had a tendency to stretch themselves out on whatever surface they happened to be lying on, anyway. She leaned her head into him a little more, exhaling as she fully relaxed. It alarmed her that she was allowing herself to let her guard down so much around a guy-and in public, no less-but he was _really_ comfortable. After a few seconds, she felt his arm lower and wrap around her hips, lightly pulling her closer to him.

"Don't you two look cozy," Tori commented, walking up with a cup of coffee in hand.

Andre shrugged. "We're just chilling."

Trina was a little grateful that he'd answered instead of her since she really didn't know how to explain their current position.

A skeptical look passed across her sister's face. "Right. Andre, can I talk to you?"

He glanced at Trina curiously before shrugging and standing up.

She found that she immediately missed his presence, and the beanbag that had been just right for her before now felt three times too large.

Her eyes followed Tori as she lead him out of the emergency exit door to go outside. She didn't know how long she stared at that spot waiting for them to reappear, but it gave her more than enough time to think the worst.

Finally the door opened and an angry looking Andre appeared followed by a confused Tori. Her heart leapt into her throat as multiple scenarios ran through her mind. Rather than return to his seat with her, Andre walked over to talk to Beck, pulling him away from a couple of stage hands who'd been quite obviously flirting with him. They spoke lowly to each other for a couple of minutes and then Beck glanced over in her direction. She quickly averted her gaze to make it seem like she wasn't obsessively watching them, and by the time she looked back over, Andre had already disappeared.

Trina looked around the room for him, but he wasn't anywhere to be found-which was strange since he was the star of the video.

"Looking for Andre?" Beck asked, walking up to her.

"Where is he?"

"He went back out to get some air," he said, nodding towards the emergency exit. "You should go talk to him." He held his hand out to her, and after a couple of seconds, Trina took it and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

Normally, she'd have freaked out over Beck touching her, but for some reason it barely registered. She headed straight towards the door leading to the back of the school, pushing past a freshman who was standing dumbly in the middle of her path. The sun was bright outside of the dark studio, and she used her hand to shield her eyes so that she could actually see something. She caught a glimpse of the shiny blue tie he'd been wearing and quickly walked over to meet him.

"Hey Andre," she said, leaning on the brick wall next to him.

He looked surprised and a little reluctant to see her. "Hey."

"What's wrong?" she asked, urging him to talk to her. A thought occurred to her, and she leaned a little closer. "Is it something Tori said?"

When his face took on an uncomfortable expression, she knew she'd hit the nail right on the head. She pretty much knew what had happened, and even though it should've angered her, it only made her sad. Sad because she knew what was going to happen next, and sad because she couldn't even get upset about it. It wasn't even a shock, really. Of course Tori would get nervous about the time they were spending together and finally make her move.

"Sort of. Do you...do you really like me?"

Trina blinked and then laughed. She hadn't been expecting that question. "Do you really want me to stroke your ego _more?_" When he didn't smile back, she reached her hand out to grab his. "What's wrong?" she repeated.

Andre let out a breath through his nose. "First of all, before I say this, I believe you over everyone. Okay?" When she nodded, he ran a hand through his twists. "There's an ugly rumor going around that the only reason you got the lead role was because you...well, seduced me."

"_What?_ I didn't even kiss you until way after you said I was the lead!" she exclaimed, the anger she'd felt earlier begin to bubble up inside of her chest again.

"I know, and that's why I don't believe it. Didn't believe it. I can tell when someone's using me."

She felt herself calm down a little at his words, relieved that he realized how full of shit the rumor was. "So why are you so upset?"

"Why am _I_ so upset? Why aren't _you_ upset? Someone's dragging your reputation through the mud!"

She paused to think about that. He had a point there. "I guess it's because I thought something else was going on."

Her relieved expression piqued his curiosity, and he pushed off of the wall to look straight at her. "What did you think it was?"

"It's stupid. I thought Tori...I thought she told you she liked you," she mumbled before awkwardly laughing it off.

She saw the annoyed expression pass across his face and figured it'd be a good time to take her leave. "Well...see you inside." She started to walk towards the door, but she wasn't expecting his strong hand to grab her wrist and turn her around to face him again. Her eyes were wide as he gripped her around the waist and planted a bone chilling kiss on her, and it wasn't long before she was putting her all into the kiss just like he was.

She felt his lips nip gently at her neck, her entire body warming under his talented mouth. She tried to stay quiet lest someone heard them, but a groan slipped out of her throat despite her best efforts. She swore she felt him smile against her skin, and a second later, he repeated the action on the other side of her neck. If they weren't in the middle of shooting a very important music video she'd have let him continue, but the last thing she wanted to do was get too distracted to finish. She pulled back and kissed him one more time on the lips, beaming at how happy she felt at that moment. She hadn't lost him to Tori, and if his words were to be believed, she never would. "Why do you like me?" she suddenly asked.

Andre smirked. "You mean besides how beautiful and talented you are?"

Trina laughed. "Well, that's _obvious_, but why else?"

"I gotta admit, I asked myself the same question a million times. It's the weirdest thing. Suddenly, I just...saw you," he said a bit uncomfortably, looking more unsure of himself than she'd ever seen him.

"Saw me?"

"Yeah, like, you don't let anyone get in the way of your dreams. I wanted what you had–that ability to roll with the punches and do what makes you happy."

Trina laughed again, humorlessly this time. "There's nothing impressive about that."

"Are you kidding? If someone said that I sucked, I'd fall apart. I need people to constantly tell me that I'm good, or talented, or going places. If even one stranger says I'm not good enough, I dwell on it for weeks. I'm not as strong as you are, Trina, so when I'm with you, I feel like you're sharing some of that strength to me. The only thing that matters is what _you_ think." He let out a frustrated breath, annoyed that he couldn't get his feelings across correctly. "I know it sounds selfish, but it's not like that. You just make me want to be a better artist. A better _man. _I feel like I don't have to be Andre Harris, the super talented singer and songwriter, to get your attention. I've never felt that with anyone before I got to know you."

She felt her eyes sting, and her throat tightened to the point where she could barely swallow. If he got down on one knee right at that moment, she couldn't say for sure that she wouldn't marry him. "Super talented singer and songwriter? Awfully full of yourself, aren't you?" she joked.

He chuckled loudly at that. "See? That right there. That's why I lo–like you."

Both of them had heard his slip up, but neither of them chose to comment on it. Andre because he was too embarrassed to speak, and Trina because her mouth was too dry to form words. She couldn't be sure, but it'd definitely sounded like he was about to say that he loved her-which was a far cry from how she'd thought this conversation would go.

When Tori had first pulled him away to talk, she was certain that things between them had ended before they'd even really started, but here she was. Here they were.

She didn't love him. That much she knew. But she liked him, he liked her, and for right now, that was good enough.

**AN: We're almost done! Long chapter that was almost two, but five is a good round number to end on.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Choreography**

**Chapter 5**

The rest of the filming finished without a hitch. After their short conversation they'd returned to finish the scenes with just the two of them. They knew the moves so well that they could concentrate solely on each other, never breaking eye contact unless they absolutely had to. At the end of shooting everyone had complimented them on their dancing, claiming that they looked like a real couple and that their entire performance had been flawless. Even Jade-who knew of their secret not-quite-relationship-had said a few nice things about the performance. She'd said them mostly to Andre, but it still applied to both of them since they were dancing together.

After seeing her perform, whatever prejudice everyone had against her seemed to disappear into nothing. in the face of her talent, it was hard to believe that she hadn't gotten the part solely because she was an amazing dancer. The only one who looked upset about that was Lindsey, and Trina instantly connected the dots to understand who had started the rumor in the first place. Rather than call her out like she would've done only a week prior, she decided to simply ignore her. She didn't have the time nor energy to deal with things that in the end didn't matter.

Initially, Trina had been upset that the project was for the most part over. She'd thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Andre and had really felt like she'd found her thing with dancing. Thankfully, her sadness was short lived. The amount of respect she received at school had grown exponentially. She was no longer known as the talentless girl who couldn't sing for shit; she was now known as the amazing dancer who couldn't sing for shit. In fact, people were coming up to her at least three times a week to ask her to choreograph or dance in things for their own productions, so her plate was full of projects-some paid, and some just because they sounded like a lot of fun.

The thing she was most happy about, though, was that she and Andre were still close. Actually, scratch that. A week after filming had ended, he'd officially asked her out for a burger and a movie which she'd happily agreed to. As weird as it sounded she'd dressed down for the date, wearing a simply pair of tight black jeans, a purple blouse, and sneakers, and as she expected, he'd complimented her on what she had on. She still felt as though his brain was broken for not finding her six-inch heels sexy, but she didn't mind wearing something simpler for him. Besides, she sort of liked having him be so much taller than herself.

He kept her laughing all throughout the movie and at Karaoke Dokie afterwards, and when he walked her to her door at the end of the date, he'd given her a small, sweet little kiss on the lips before leaving. Or, well, he'd tried to leave. She'd dragged him into the house and up to her room and kissed him until she was satisfied-which took awhile, because she was pretty much insatiable once she got going.

By the time she was done with him two hours later he could barely see straight, and getting from her room back to his car proved to be one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. She'd thought about helping, but it pleased her _so_ much more to watch him struggle knowing that she was the one who'd done that to him.

The best part? He'd come back over to her house the very next morning and asked her to be his girlfriend.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her backwards, drawing her attention away from her thoughts.

"Kojeezy's on his way," Andre said into her ear, tickling her slightly. The excitement in his voice was obvious. The video had been edited and mixed with the soundtrack, and despite the fact that only eight people total had seen it, he had little doubt that everyone else in the school would love it.

"Mmhm."

He stepped back and turned her around, frowning at the lackluster expression on her face. "I thought you'd be a little more pumped for this."

"I am, I just..." she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know." And it was the truth. She had no idea why she wasn't jumping up and down with joy. Maybe it was just because she was no longer so interested in being a pop star, or maybe it because she had someone who actually believed in her and she didn't need the validation of stardom-though it'd still be pretty nice.

Misinterpreting the reason for her quietness, he hugged her again. "Well, he's gonna love you after he sees you in the video. I promise."

"Yeah," she replied, pasting on a smile to hopefully put him at ease.

Andre bit the inside of his lip. He was still a little confused about her lack of excitement, but he decided to chalk it up to her nervousness for the time being. "Come on, lets get to the theater."

Ten minutes later the producer strode into the room surrounded by an entourage of models, bodyguards, and lesser rappers. He took the front seat directly in the middle of the auditorium, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere else but there.

Andre jogged up the short steps to stand in front of him. "Hi, Mr. Kojeezy, sir," he said, rubbing his hands together nervously in the center of the stage. "Let me start by saying that it's a great honor to have you here today. We've worked really hard on this, and I hope you like the video that-"

The man yawned and waved his hand at the screen. "Just roll it."

Trina crossed her arms from her position on the side of the stage. She was trying not to look upset by Kojeezy's rudeness, but it was a quickly losing battle. They'd poured so much time, effort, and creativity into this video and he was acting as though none of it–or they–mattered. She caught Jade's eye from the audience and noticed that she had a similar look on her face. Her boyfriend had been neglecting her somewhat thanks to the video, and if it was all for nothing, she had a reason to be pissed.

Andre looked towards the back of the auditorium and raised a hand to his mouth. "Sinjin! Roll tape!" He ducked off of the stage and joined Trina, holding her hand for support.

Despite her anger, the older Vega couldn't stop looking at the screen. This was her second time seeing the video altogether, but she couldn't stop smiling at how amazing it looked. They looked so in sync with each other, and she had to feel a little proud of herself at how well her moves fit the theme of the song.

Her face soured when the chorus started and Lindsey appeared on screen along with her. When Andre had found out she'd been the one to spread the rumor about her sleeping with him to get the role, he'd been livid. He'd wanted her cut from the video entirely by doing re-shoots, but she surprised even herself by being the bigger person and telling him to drop it. She didn't regret her decision, but that didn't mean she had to like watching her get screen time.

The lights lifted a minute later and everyone in the room snapped their heads around to study the producer's expression. While he'd been somewhat slouched and bored looking before, he was now leaning forward and slowly nodding his head, eyes still staring at the now blank screen as Andre, Trina, and Beck stepped onto the stage.

"I like it," he said after a few minutes. "Great direction, great camerawork, great editing, and great dancing. Who choreographed the video?"

Grinning, Andre nudged her forward. "She did, sir. Trina Vega."

He looked at her from over the top of his shades, and she felt vaguely uncomfortable being put on the spot like she was. "Good job." He stood up and snapped his fingers, motioning for his entourage to follow him out. "My people will be in touch with you. I think we have a spot in our talent development program with your name on it."

The entire room broke out into excited whispering and a few cheers, but Trina was the first to wrap him up in a happy hug. She was glad that his dreams of becoming a singer were well on their way to becoming a reality.

"What about Trina?" Andre called from the stage, shocking her into silence.

The man paused at the doorway, holding up his hand to signal his entourage to also stop. "Who?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Andre.

"My choreographer. I want her to work on my stuff too. You know, if you sign me."

Trina gaped at him. While she definitely appreciated him talking her up, the last thing she wanted was for him to blow his shot just because he was trying to make his girlfriend happy. She'd never be able to forgive him or herself for that matter. "Andre!" she hissed, hitting his arm. "The man's a world famous music producer. You can't just-"

"If that's what you want," the man shrugged, continuing out the door.

Both Trina and Andre were dumbstruck. Neither had expected such an easy answer. "See? Doesn't hurt to ask," he finally said, long after Kojeezy had left.

Before he could react she kissed him passionately, ignoring the gasps from those in the room who hadn't known that they were dating. She didn't care about rumors, or Tori, or even the fact that she'd been five feet away from one of LA's top music producers. She knew who she was and she knew what she loved, and really, that was all she'd ever wanted.

* * *

Andre pulled into the garage of his condo and shut off the lights on his brand new 2017 Camaro. It was located on the outskirts of Hollywood, and though the mortgage was cheaper, it was an extra fifteen minute drive. He didn't too much, though. The ride gave him time to drink on his way to and from the Neutronium Records studio, and it wasn't like he had to go in everyday. Sometimes he wouldn't go in for weeks at a time since he'd converted one of the three bedrooms in his condo into a private recording studio. It was just one of the many benefits of being a multi-platinum recording artist.

The young man sighed tiredly and he hopped out of his car, feeling the day's fatigue begin to catch up with him. Kojeezy had him working around the clock to finish up his album. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but lately, he'd had a bit of a distraction.

He slipped his key into the lock and opened the garage door, a little shocked at seeing the lights on when he was certain that he'd turned them off before he left. After momentary panic, he saw a pair of four inch heels and smiled. His smile grew wider as he saw the trail of clothing leading to his bedroom, and tossing his bag and keys on the counter, he wasted no time in following it.

The lights were dimmed as he entered his bedroom, but he could clearly see the half naked woman lying lazily on his California King bed. Her chin leaning on her hand, she boredly kicked her legs back and forth, eyes glued to his 60-inch television. Personally, he'd never found Trina more attractive even though they weren't technically together.

After a little over two years of dating, they'd broken up two months after he graduated from high school. Since he was moving on with his music career working with Kojeezy and Thornesmith and she'd decided to attend Julliard for dance after a year of working as a Junior Choreographer, they'd mutually decided to end it while it was still good instead of letting their relationship die a slow and painful death due to the distance.

At first, they'd called or video chatted with each other every night and sent multiple texts throughout the day. Over time that number dropped to once a week, then once a month, and then only on special occasions like birthdays or holidays. Even after they stopped calling regularly they'd still usually meet up whenever she came home to see her family, but it was usually only once or twice a visit and not for very long since they were both always extremely busy. Funnily enough, they spent most of that time sleeping together.

The first time had been pure accident. She'd come by to see his new apartment over Winter Break and had somehow ended up naked in his bed. It had felt great to be with her again–to feel her arms around him and her familiar lips on his. He was always depressed for weeks after she left his bed, but eventually he learned to deal with the absence and just appreciate the time he did have with her.

Unfortunately, in her last year she'd been too busy with being a senior to come home to see her family. When he'd been unable to get a hold of her by phone or through Skype, he'd thought she had found someone else and wanted to end things. He hadn't been happy about it, but he accepted it as a part of life.

At least until she'd suddenly shown up at Neutronium Records to work on his video as the choreographer. The moment their eyes met it was like they'd never been apart. At the end of that day, he'd brought her back to his condo to 'catch up.'

And boy, did they do a lot of catching up. They didn't leave the apartment all weekend, living solely on the meager snacks he had in his cupboards and food ordered in from nearby restaurants.

Which brought him back to the present. Their 'arrangement' had been going on for three months now with no signs of slowing down. She'd either show up at his condo or he would drop by hers for a few hours of fun. It wasn't a relationship, but to him, it was better than nothing. His eyes ran over her body, and he couldn't stop himself from licking his lips. Her years of intense dancing in college and professionally had only sculpted her figure since high school.

"I knew giving you a key was a mistake," he joked, pulling off his jacket and unbuttoning his jeans.

Turning off the TV, she smiled and leaned back on the bed, stretching her arms above her head. "Then it was the best mistake you've ever made."

Andre laughed and tugged his shirt over his head before tossing it in the corner. He took his sweet time kicking off his shoes, and growing impatient, Trina grabbed him by the belt and pulled him onto the king-sized bed with her.

A full hour later they lie next to each other, both enjoying the afterglow of 'meaningless' sex. They'd both had other partners in the four years she'd been away, but it wasn't even close to as good as it was with each other. He took a deep breath and turned over to look at her, unable to believe what he was about to say next.

"I'm tired of this arrangement," he finally said.

Trina sat up on her elbow to look down at him. "What?"

"I want us to be official. Like we were in high school."

The brunette sighed and lie back down, staring up at the ceiling. "Andre..."

He knew what she was about to say next, but he wasn't about to let the conversation end just yet. Not until he'd said his piece. "Why not? What's stopping us from dating?" When she didn't answer him, he frowned. "Trina?"

"I don't want to get my heart broken again," she said, not quite meeting his gaze.

His eyes widened at that. "I...I broke your heart?"

"You broke up with me three weeks before I left for Julliard after we'd been doing so well. How was I supposed to feel?" she grumbled, fully sitting up. Her afterglow was officially over.

Andre shook his head, refusing to take full responsibility for their break up. "But you agreed! I figured you wouldn't want me to hold you back while you were all the way across the country studying at the best dancing school in the world. It didn't feel fair."

Feeling herself begin to get angry at his excuses, she scowled. "Well, what else was I supposed to do? If I had said we should try to stay together, would you have even wanted to?"

"Yeah, I would've."

It was her turn to gape. She looked into his eyes, shocked at how serious he seemed. "Huh?"

The young man sighed. He didn't really have any problems with sharing his emotions, but this was still somewhat of a sore spot for him. "You broke my heart, too. You agreed so easily so I figured you didn't really care, and then you constantly came back on your breaks to remind me of what I didn't have anymore. Do you know what it was like watching you leave the morning after sex?"

"Do you know what it was like _leaving_ the morning after sex?" They both laughed at that, the tension that had been growing immediately dissipating. "We're idiots, aren't we?" Trina chuckled, leaning into him.

Andre nodded, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Definitely."

They were quiet for a few minutes, relieved that they were completely wrong about each other. Feeling like nothing more than a booty call wasn't fun for either of them, but they were both just so desperate to be with the other that they'd swallowed their feelings to keep their arrangement going. It sounded so stupid in retrospect.

"Me too," Trina finally murmured, breath soft against the skin of his neck.

He curiously glanced down at her. "Huh?"

"I think we should be official. I think we should go on dates again, cook dinner together, be disgustingly cute, and let all of those groupies who flock to you know exactly who you belong to."

He couldn't stop himself from smiling at her words. After a full four years, he finally had her back at his side.

It might take months–or even years–to get back to where they were when they were teenagers, but they'd taken that first step together.

**AN: Well, that's the end! I originally had a different ending written, but it felt too perfect. This ending isn't great either, but I'm tired of staring at this file. It was mocking me and I felt like I'd never finish. Honestly, thank you guys for sticking with this story. It wasn't that long and had a rather obscure pairing, but you liked it anyway. **


End file.
